Suspicious Device Found Outside Rochester Minnesota Church

On April 17, 2019 a suspicious device found near Calvary Episcopal Church has been removed from downtown Rochester.

Described as something with batteries that looked handmade, it was reported to police early Wednesday evening and led to 2nd Street SW from 4th to 3rd Avenue being closed by Rochester police while they waited for the St. Paul Bomb Squad to arrive. The bomb squad arrived around 8:30 and used a robot to remove the package.

The squad used a robot to secure the device and it was taken from the area for testing a little after 9 pm. Law enforcement officials say they hope to have some answers about the device by Thursday morning.

Police say it was not equipped to explode but appears to have been placed under a bench near the Calvary Episcopal Church to deliberately cause alarm in others. Police say they are going to check nearby security cameras to see if they can find out who put the device there.